An Abnormal Training Process
by Autumn.Harvest.Doll
Summary: Reborn calls out an old friend to help him with the guardians' training...But will they survive?  pairings, if any, are being decided on. Any you'd like to see, you may leave in the comments.  Potential Colonello x Shizuha here, guys.
1. Chapter 1

Yukarin set down her pen, sighing with a little relief as she placed the letter inside of the envelope. Not too long ago, an old friend had requested something of her, and she, being the adventurous Yukari Yakumo, accepted this offer greatly. With a flick of her wrist, a gap opened with the signature red ribbons on the ends, the purple background and many eyes inside. She wrote a simple name; a word on the blank side of the envelope, and pushed it through, sealing it quickly before anything sped out.

Slowly, Yukarin turned the chair around again, facing those she had assembled. She looked at each of them in turn, handing them all cards with names on them. They were to be kept secret about them, not to tell anyone about this. It was a secret between the residents of Gensokyo, and it would be revealed at the right time; when she said so. Yukarin stood up. "You all know your instructions. You are to do as we have been asked, and under no circumstances should you let them be harmed by others. Now…Any questions?" Hands went up.

It was a regular morning at Namimori Middle, classes went on as scheduled, a few kids got sent to detention…it was odd. Very much so for Tsuna. Since the day he'd met Reborn, not a day of his life could be labeled normal. As if on cue, Reborn popped out in front of Tsuna, from seemingly nowhere.

"Ciaossu." He said simply, tipping his hat in a rather gentlemanly manner.

"A-Ah, Reborn!" Tsuna looked a bit startled, but also relieved. If he hadn't come around, he might've begun to worry for him, as if he'd been taken somewhere. But thinking about it again, this was Reborn we were talking about, no ordinary child.

"Put down all your school supplies, we're taking a trip." Again, his tone was plain and simple, as if he were blissfully unaware that Tsuna couldn't simply cut class like that. Of course, Reborn didn't exactly care; he was going whether he wanted to or not.

"I-I can't just skip class like that, I'll get in trou—" No sooner had he said that had a hole in…well, the thin air opened. Red ribbons around the edges, as if the gap would grow bigger any moment, and those eyes inside, against the dark purple background…

"I said put them down!" Reborn kicks his backpack, causing the straps to rip and the bag itself to fall with a 'thump', Tsuna dropping his book from the rather unexpected action.

"B-But—"

"Your friends are already waiting, go!" He gave Tsuna another kick, sending him hurling into the gap, flailing as he fell. Not long after, it had closed. Reborn gave a large smirk, a smaller gap opening as Yukarin popped her head out, resting her chin in her hands.

"How'd I do?~" She asked, quite satisfied.

"We'll see when we get there." He replied, and Yukarin dragged both herself and him back into the gap.


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: Any and all italics take place at 'The Table' where Yukarin has gathered everyone she's needed. In regular text, it is the present. Got it? Good. 3**

Gokudera landed with a heavy 'thud' in fluffy snow, which was odd, as autumn had only just begun. Either way, he was completely ticked off, getting up quickly. It was freezing out here, but he knew he had to find a way out of here quickly; the Tenth might be in trouble! Who would be there to protect him, that baseball nut? Of course not! Looking around, he saw that near everything was white around these parts, save for the lake a fair distance away. Of course, naturally, he would've aimed for it, but the feeling that someone was around stopped him. Whirling around d, he saw nobody…

But the wind picked up, and in a flurry of snow, a woman dressed mostly in blue and silver emerged from the cascade.

"Oh, what are you doing out here? It's easy to get lost."

"C-che! I don't give a damn if I get lost or not, I just want to go home!" Of course, the poor boy was making absolutely no sense. Getting lost to get home was an oxymoron. The woman looked up at him, her expression mostly bland and her voice calm.

"You'll never get home if you get lost, dear. And we all know why it's easy to get lost in snow…No mountains have tops without it." The woman looked at him, and the boy glared back until she was physically uncomfortable. "…So, who are you again?"

"Hayato Gokudera, but not that it matters to you."

"Letty Whiterock, a pleasure to meet you."

_Yukarin's eyes scanned the table for more hands, pointing at Letty. The woman had few questions, but they were extremely intelligent. _

"_What is it, Letty?" _

_ "I understand the job perfectly well, but about the children we'll be training…What do we do to not lose them? Surely, one of these people is going to have a horrible attitude and not want to work at all. They'll storm off or some other thing."_

_ Yukarin looked at Letty, rather deep in thought. "Gah, I guess we'll actually have to explain then, won't we…Well, first, I advise you to try and gain their trust. If you cannot, you will have to bring them to the Netherworld by force, a place where we can all meet. Yuyuko surely won't mind, I've already told her in case this question came up. Now, anyone else? ~"_

_ A small child's hand went up… _

Not too far from where Gokudera and Letty were 'chatting', Lambo had landed on the frozen lake and was having plenty of fun, until he fell on his face, that is. He began to whine rather loudly, trying to restrain himself all the while. ("Gotta…Stay…Calm…")

A child with icy wings and a blue dress with white triangles at the bottom flew over, plugging her ears. "Stawp that screaming! It herts mah eers!" The poor fairy pleaded, but it was a little late to try stopping him now. The calf already had the ten year bazooka out, ready to fire. The poor fairy had never seen a gun, and therefore, was extremely curious. "That's a nice toy! Can I play?" Lambo looked up…someone…wanted to play with him? His eyes lit up immediately. "L-Lambo-san wants to play!" He squealed, jumping up and nearly slipping again. "Lambo-san is Lambo! Who are you?" He jumped up and down playfully.

"My name ees Cirno!" She flailed her arms a bit, smiling. "I'm da stwongest!" She put her hands on her hips, looking rather proud of herself. Of course, most knew she was actually horribly weak, but Lambo didn't know a thing about Cirno.

"Lambo-san wants to be strong to! And then Lambo can fight like everyone else!" He made little punches in the air, and slipped, hitting his head lightly on the ice. "…Gotta…Stay…Calm…" But despite his efforts, he still reached for the bazooka, but yet again slipped, pulling the trigger while it was aimed at the poor ice fairy…

"_What if wee don't liek awr purson?" Cirno asked, rather inquisitive. Looking at the name on the paper, 'Lambo' seemed odd and mysterious. What if he was scary?_

"_Don't worry, Cirno, that child is nothing to be afraid of. I'm sure you two will get along extremely well…" 'You're both idiots, anyhow', she wanted to say, but stopped herself. "…And don't worry, I won't let them hurt you. They're like snakes. More afraid of you than you are of them." She sighed heavily, looking around the table. "…Who else? Come on now."_

_A tan sleeve went up, accompanied by a fragile hand._

Tsuna had landed far away from the winter spirits and Scarlet Devil mansion, more towards a field. It was decorated with reds and browns, flecks of gold hidden here and there. He lifted his head gingerly, making a slight wince of pain as he had basically been kicked here. Standing up, the fields were near empty, and a cool wind or two blew across the fields…that is, it seemed empty. He could hear slight shuffling from the trees, immediately stiffening up. Knowing Reborn, this could be some kind of training field…but instead, there was no monster, but a woman. A young one at that.

"Oh, hello, sir!~" She exclaimed, her face giving way to a smile, her red eyes looking at him gently, as if giving him a once over. Tsuna, of course, had no intentions of talking to a young woman with red eyes, and only stiffened more. "Oh, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you…I mean, you ARE Sawada Tsunayoshi, no? ~" She let another smile cross her face, red eyes unblinking for the moment.

"Y-Yeah…" Since this young woman knew his name, she was either a stalker, or a friend of Reborn's, the latter more believable. "S-So, who are you, exactly?" He asked, trying his best not to be rude. After all, who knew what she could do?

"My name is Minoriko Aki. I'm the harvest goddess, but more than that to you. I'm not going to spoil the surprise, though, as we must get going!" She gave a giggle and blushed lightly.

"G-Go where?"

"The Netherworld, of course!" And she dragged him away~

"…_I'd like to know why you chose me for this role…You said he was the boss; the center. I live at the bottom of the mountain, I'm anything but those." Minoriko looked shocked yet saddened what if she let them down?_

"_I chose you because you're a lot like him. You may not be horribly strong, but you'll protect what you love, and you have plenty of will to go along with it. You're just as good as everyone else here, Minoriko, don't beat down on yourself. It's like how Letty and Cirno were both assigned to the people I saw fit them. The snow can be harsh or gentle, and the ice can be more than you think it is. It's how this entire thing works…So…anyone else? ~"_

_An orange sleeve went up, someone who was sitting right next to Minoriko._

While Minoriko dragged Tsuna off to the Netherworld, where all the guardians were expected to meet, the blond arcobaleno Colonello was locked in a staring contest with a rather pessimistic woman. She had a red-orange dress with leaf shaped ends, and she wore leaves in her hair, which faded from a blonde to an orange at the bottom.

"…Who are you?" She inquired, tone rather bland. She was trying to do her work.

"What does it matter to you, kora?!" The small child retorted, rather defensively. He didn't make good first impressions, no sir.

"You know, just the fact that there's a baby holding a rifle, talking, AND trespassing on the Aki lands." She waved at a bit. "And I'm Shizuha Aki." Her face didn't change; it was the usual monotone she used with people. People she never met, and probably didn't like.

"It's not my fault that damned gap dropped me here, kora!" He growled a bit, and Shizuha's eyes widened at the mention of a gap.

"Oh, so you're one of them…" She looks at the child, stretching out her arms. "Come on, hop up, we have places to go." Colonello only shook his head.

"I'm not going anywhere with someone I barely know, kora!" He yelled at her, making Shizuha flinch slightly.

"Oh, shut up and get up, or else you won't be seeing Tsuna, or that Reborn guy. I'm supposed to take you somewhere, orders of the Gap Hag and the Fedora Baby." The girl didn't look like a mind reader, and so long as it was some kind of plan Reborn conjured up, he'd be fine. Rather reluctantly, he jumped into Shizuha's arms, the top of the rifle hitting her face rather hard. She twitched before moving on, feet crunching the falling leaves that followed them.

"_Why am I here?" Shizuha asked, glaring at Yukarin._

_ "You always complain you're being left out, and so I have a bit of a job for you. Anyone who isn't assigned to anyone, it's your job to take care of them, lest they can take care of themselves." Shizuha just turned and grumbled, she'd brought it upon herself._

_ Before Yukarin could ask, a white sleeve went up._

Hibari landed rather gracefully in a flower field, rather impressively as well, as he had fallen into one of the gaps by accident yet landed on his feet. He gave Yukarin a rather hard time trying to catch him; she had basically opened twenty of the gaps around the school, and he slipped up trying to get away from one, making him land here. Looking around, he could see almost nothing…sunflowers…and then, a green-haired girl with a plaid vest and skirt, accompanied by a parasol. He stared at her, and as if she could feel his gaze against her back, she turned.

"Kyoya, right? Come on, we have places to be if you ever want to see that school of yours again." She began to walk, not caring for a response…and honestly Hibari did want to get back to school, and since he didn't have anything else to do, why not?

_Yuka lowered her hand, glaring at Yukarin. "I suppose…I'm getting the worst child, aren't I?" Yukarin blinked a couple times._

_ "I wouldn't say 'bad', but he's extremely stubborn. Mention the school or something, he'll follow you easily; or at least, that's what Reborn said. Now, anyone else need some help here?"_

_Three hands went up; they could both be answered in one shot._

Takeshi and Chrome sat uneasily on the large scale of stairs they had been dumped on. Spirits floated by every now and then, and to be honest, they were both a little freaked out here. Before Takeshi or Chrome could go to start another conversation, what looked like a cat girl and a fox woman appeared in front of them.

"Chen, look! I told you we didn't have time for you to finish that game of house, now look! We left these two poor souls waiting for us!"

"I-I'm sorry, Ran-sama…" Chen replied, eyes a little watery. Her tails weren't swaying, it was clear she was a little upset. Ran patted her head, sighing.

"Ah jeeze, which one of you is the rain guardian?" She asked, looking a little ticked off. Takeshi immediately stood up, sword having somehow appeared by him. He gave a slight wave to Ran, who landed rather elegantly, taking Chen with her. Chen looked over at Chrome, giving a shy smile.

"T-Then I take the lady with the pointy thing? I-I don't like pointy things…" Chrome looked a little surprised, but stood up nonetheless, cradling her weapon in a way which she couldn't attack Chen. Chen seemed slightly relaxed, but not by much. Ran gave the girl a kiss to her forehead.

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Chen. Now, we have to go…Chen, take her inside, you…" She pointed at the black-haired boy, who was looking rather curious at this point. "…We'll just stay out here and wait for the others, I suppose…Give the others some time to get acquainted."

_Ran and Chen were the first to be answered, rather simply. "Can we stay with each other?"_

"_No."_

_And then, the third._

Ryohei got up with a bit of a grumble, being dumped in the forest like that. Who had the nerve to put some kind of trans-dimensional portal in the gym like that? He didn't care, really, but trudged on through the forest. That is, until a huge laser almost hit him. A witch came up shortly after. "Sorry, I thought you were a youkai, ze! Now come on, I gotta get you somewhere! I mean, you are Ryohei, relight? ~" Slightly stunned by the fact that she knew his name, Ryohei was trying to think straight for a moment, but Marisa grabbed him anyhow, taking him up on the broom. "Here we go, ze! ~" And off they went, Marisa laughing wildly all the way.

"_I'm not getting a wimp, am I, ze?"Minoriko shot Marisa an angry glare, then returned to her normal expression._

"_Not at all, he's actually one of the least in the group we have. Perfectly suited to you, you know, how you…go PAST the limit with EVERYTHING." She growled, remembering how Marisa beat her down._

"_As long as he isn't, I'm fine with it, ze! ~" Yukarin smiled a bit. "Alright, that's everyone…Meeting adjourned for the time being. Have fun, okay?" Nearly everyone went to go to their designated spots, leaving only Yukarin in her place. "…This is gonna be REAL fun…"_

Meanwhile, Letty had to drag Gokudera over to the Netherworld by force, the poor kid. He was grumbling all the way as Letty dragged him, but tried to sit still because if he resisted, Letty would fire a wave of cold into his body. Cirno came shortly after, herself much taller, hair longer, and wings elegant, like a butterfly's. She looked at Ran and Takeshi as they greeted her, not saying a word, but continuing up the stairs. Minoriko arrived with Tsuna, Shizuha with Colonello. (They'd met up on the way.) Yuka trailed a Hibari, and Marisa came with Ryohei, who was still looking very puzzled. Ran led Takeshi indoors, sitting around a giant table that Yukarin set up for this occasion. Beside her chair was a smaller one, as if she was expecting someone. About five minutes had passed before a single voice spoke.

"Ciaossu."


	3. Chapter 3

Reborn emerged from the back parts of the Saigyouji mansion, a girl with white hair and a green dress following shortly after.

"While I am here, may I ask if anyone needs anything to drink or eat?" The white haired girl asked, her tone bland. Yukarin took a cup of hot tea, as did Reborn, but everyone else looked grim and silent. As soon as the white hair had gotten the tea, introduced herself as 'Youmu Konpaku' and said the basic 'Just holler if you need something', she left. Yukarin brought her fan to her face, not wanting to show the slight smile underneath.

"I bet you're all wondering why you're here, no?" The residents of Gensokyo had no question, but the mafia members knew Reborn was clearly speaking to them. The first to spring up was, of course, Gokudera.

"Damn right I am! Why the hell would you take us to this crazy place where dumbass ladies can fire cold into our bodies?!" Letty gave a twitch, trying to ignore him as best she could. And then he looked across the table, right at Minoriko. "And what the HELL is she doing with the Tenth?! I should be by his side! Not some dumbass little kid who doesn't know shit!" Minoriko looked down a bit, bangs shadowing her face. Instantly, Yukarin slammed her hands down on the table.

"Quiet. There's a reason she's with him, the same as why Letty is with you. Now sit before I MAKE you." Yukarin glared at the boy, and considering she was probably the one who brought them all here, he reluctantly sat down. Minoriko's head was back up, herself looking a little ticked. "Now, as Reborn was saying…We brought you here because he requested it. He felt that you guys needed training, but not from simple tutors, from people who most suit you instead of those willing to train you, but lack the skill in the category in which you desire."

Chen raised her hand.

"We're going to train the shit out of them, sweetie, because the tutors they have at home aren't doing a very good job."

"Ohhhh."

Tsuna was the next to raise his hand, followed shortly after by Shizuha. Yukarin let Tsuna go first.

"W-what kind of training are we talking about here…?"

Yukarin gave way to a large smile. "Oh, you know! ~ Physical things, like pushups and stuff…" Tsuna gave a sigh of relief. "And then we'll test your smarts," He tensed up. "Your bravery and survival skills, too. ~" Tsuna lowered his head; this was going to be hard. Minoriko gave him a couple reassuring pats on the back.

"Oy, when you say 'take care of', do you mean watch over and feed? Or do you mean just make sure he doesn't get into any deep shit?" Shizuha pointed to the blond arcobaleno, who was standing diligently on the table, gaze fixed on the woman beside him. "I mean, I usually take a liking to kids, but this one is kind of a brat." Colonello huffed at Shizuha's statement. He wasn't a brat! He was simply maintaining his reputation! Or so he thought.

"…Just because you asked, you're his babysitter." Yukarin grinned wildly at the autumn goddess. "I mean, you were kind of asking for it to happen there, and I'm sure that the Aki household has plenty of space." Shizuha twitched and huffed, looking just as pouty as Colonello now. Minoriko gave a giggle from the other end of the table.

"D'awww, so adorable when you're flustered, Shizuha! ~" Minoriko teased, and Shizuha tried to force a smile, visibly twitching with anger. Yukarin directed their attention away from the fights, trying to move on to a lighter topic. "Alright, you all have about three days, until Monday, to settle down. Chances are, you're either be staying with your tutor, or, if you can find one, in an empty house in the human village. Does everyone understand?" They all gave a mix of reassurance, standing up, as they knew they were dismissed.

Minoriko turned to Tsuna, noticing his worried look. "D-Don't worry, I'm not going to bury you under work, or anything…" Tsuna blushed a little, unnoticing he'd been so nervous on the outside. "N-No, it's fine, you don't have to go easy or anything. I-I'll try and keep up!"

"Damn right you will, kora!" Colonello yelled from Shizuha's arms, whom had a red mark on her face. (The rifle had hit her in the face yet again.) "And if you don't, maybe I'll start knocking some sense into that head of yours, kora!" Minoriko winced slightly as the arcobaleno's hostile attitude.

"Pah, you won't even need to! The Tenth can do anything he wants!" Beside Minoriko, whom he had grown to dislike, appeared Gokudera. He was smiling for once, but then Minoriko had to inquire:

"Why are you following along with us? Shouldn't you be with Letty?" Gokudera gave her a long hard stare, and she just noticed that he was carrying a sleeping Lambo in his arms.

"Well, apparently they sleep in the snow, and there's no fucking way I'm doing that." He glares at the red-eyed girl, who glares back just as hard. Tsuna, in an effort to lighten the mood, asked just where exactly they were going.

"Our house." Shizuha said, rather flatly. "There's only…let's see…" She pondered for a moment. "Well, There's Mino's bedroom, mine, and then there' three guest…so, which of you two are going to be sleeping together, might I ask? This child doesn't look like he wants anyone sleeping with him. "She looked at everyone else's reactions, seeing as how they had a five bedroom house. "…What? We're goddesses; we get this kind of stuff."

Completely ignoring the last comment, Gokudera quickly replied. "I'm not going to sleep in the same bed as this whiny little bastard." He gave the cow a small shake, and he mumbled something. "So I guess I'm with you, Tenth!" He gave a bright smile to Tsuna, but Shizuha and Minoriko just gave each other a look that said 'Hoo boy' and kept walking.

Takeshi, Ryohei, Hibari and Chrome would both be staying with Yukarin, Ran, and Chen. The way there were only two groups made it easier for the students and tutors to meet up as a whole, and then split into smaller groups. And so, when Minoriko and Shizuha got home, they were literally running around, trying to make the house suitable for the new guests. Lambo was put to bed, Colonello as well; he'd fallen asleep on the way. Only Tsuna and Gokudera were left to tend to, and so, they did their best, Shizuha cleaning madly while her sister cooked.

Everyone sitting down at the table, Minoriko and Shizuha both said grace before eating dinner. The other two did not, and when they hadn't, both shot a glare to the other two before continuing their meal. After finishing, Minoriko sat with them while Shizuha collected the plates.

"A-Ah, s-so how's your stay been so far?"

"Fucking. Terrible. I get dumped face first into snow, some lady basically KIDNAPS me, and then I'm over here, with no way home." Gokudera went on with rants about how he didn't want to be here, and Tsuna gave Minoriko an apologetic look.

"W-Well, I've been doing fine…and the food was wonderful…Miss…Aki, was it?" He asked, afraid of getting the name wrong, but Minoriko nodded, blushing slightly. "A-Ah, thank you…" Tsuna gave a slight yawn before thanking Minoriko again, going upstairs to sleep after the long day. Minoriko decided she would as well, not mentioning it was because the person across from her was giving very cold glances every chance he got.

Shizuha sat at the large window of the house, staring outside with a cup of tea in her hand, looking rather content. Hesitantly, the boy moved over to join her. She was the only company, and really, she hadn't done anything to annoy him just yet.

Meanwhile, over at the Yakumo house, Hibari and Chrome had already gone to bed, leaving only Ran and Yukarin to accompany Takeshi and Ryohei. Ran didn't do much talking, Yukarin did most of it.

"…And then you see, me and Reimu kicked the shit out of the moon princess!" She slammed her fists on the table. "And then, suddenly, dawn!" She gave a bright smile, throwing her arms up in the air as Takeshi and Ryohei both gave a short round of applause.

"That story was extreme!" Ryohei exclaimed, Yukarin slightly creeped out by the boy. Takeshi also said a few good words, but then asked a question:

"…So, when we do get training, what exactly are we doing?" He inquired, rather curious at this point. Yukarin leaned over and whispered something into his ear.

"…Wow."


	4. Chapter 4

That day, the entire group, tutors and students, with others (Colonello, Reborn, etc.) were gathered in one place. The bamboo forest, to be exact. The land of the lost, home of Eientei…and rabbits. Lots and lots of rabbits. The students and tutors gathered around Yukarin and Reborn, but they both stayed silent. A small girl with a pink dress, bunny appendages, and black hair came out of the forest, smirking.

"You people think you're good enough for this?! HA! This should be fun to watch…" The small rabbit girl proclaimed. "The name's Tei. Not Tewi, Tei." She frowned at having to correct it before it started. Why couldn't people see the better one was Tei? Before Tei could prolong her thoughts, Yukarin spoke, both humor and strictness in her voice.

"Today, each of you will be playing a bit of hide and seek. In there." She pointed behind her, to the bamboo forest. "It's extremely hard to navigate; only the residents of Eientei know their way around here…Which, in fact, is why I brought Tei here. Each of you will be given a small card with a seal on it. When the seal on the card is broken, and it is opened, it releases a distress signal only she can hear. She'll run toy our rescue if you get too lost…but then you'll fail the mission, and punishment awaits at Eientei." Yukarin grinned evilly while the others all gulped. Punishment…?

"Pah, a few of these guys don't look like they'd last a minute!" Tei grinned, pointing at the group. She meant Tsuna, Chrome, and a few others, but did it really matter? Even if they lasted, they'd have to call for help some time! Yukarin looked at each and every one of them, smiling devilishly.

"The entire goal…? Find your tutor or student, and once you do, find your way to Eientei! You cannot learn if you cannot get along and co-operate! Now, ONWARDS!" She raised her arms, laughing horribly as she dropped them all through gaps, sending them to different parts of the forest. Reborn smiled contently, but then frowned.

"Where's Shizuha and the other two?"

"…Shiiiit."

Poor Shizuha, she'd landed in a different part of the forest! Well, at least that kid—Shit. The kid was missing! She began to look around frantically, calling out the name of the two. "Lambo! Colonello!" As heartless as she was usually, even she couldn't leave two children to their death…

One Aki fared horribly in these environments, the other did not. Minoriko walked with her eyes closed, hands at her sides as she stepped over obstacles with ease. The girl could sense everything underground…here; it was no question as to what was in her line of sight. She trailed along, with one ultimate goal. Find her student, and get to Eientei. Within a matter of minutes, she located the brown-haired child, taking him by the hand and getting him up. They slowly walked towards Eientei, smiling and making conversation all the way…

Even Letty was finding it easy, or rather, her student was. Around Letty emanated an aura of immense cold, causing leaves to turn brown and fall, making bamboo seem as if it had just hit winter. Using this obvious clue as to where Letty had gone, he'd followed her and caught up nearly half an hour later. After noticing one another, they, of course, began some insane argument about how to find someone who is lost, small words becoming ferocious hatred in the midst of green leaves.

Takeshi had great difficulty finding Ran, but he kept a great optimism about himself. It was about an hour before the two found each other, and Ran began to scold him.

"When you get lost you should at least call my name! And your hair is a mess, look at it! When we get home, I'll clean you right up and…" She went on, rambling as the boy walked beside her, smiling nervously.

Marisa took no haste in finding the boy, nor did she really need to. His yells of "EXTREEEEME!" were heard around the entire bamboo forest. Obviously ticked with his noisiness, she bonked him on the head with her broom, dragging him away immediately.

"H-hey! Where are you taking—"

"SHUT UUUP!"

Chen had trouble finding Chrome, especially since she wasn't searching in the first place. As soon as she was there, she started to cry. Chrome fared no better, Chen's cries unable to be heard through the dense forest…When she did find her, Chen latched to Chrome's leg, crying and whining. The girl picked up the nekomata, and cradled her as best she could as she walked, trying to calm her.

Cirno and Lambo…by the time they had been dropped and calmed down, they completely forgot what the mission was about. They simply toddled their way over to Eientei, not really knowing much of anything about…well, anything.

Yuka and Hibari never did find each other. They simply met up at the meeting point of Eientei. At long last, everyone was there…But there was a problem.

Eientei was aflame.

A silver haired woman flew out from the doors of the clinic, yelling something about princesses and immortals. Every group had just arrived, one not long after the other, and they all stared in shock, the woman and Tei from earlier bringing out bundles of rabbits in their hands. Another girl with rabbit ears and such was helping as well, but her ears turned red at the bottom, they were gray on top. Most of the group simply stared in awe, but Yukarin was the first to step forward. With no hesitation, she drew her umbrella, slashing open a gap, which she pulled out a beautiful young girl from, with raven black hair. The girl was dresses in rather fancy pink and red clothing, and was rather short. Yukarin opened up more gaps, muttering something as she slashed wildly, rabbits pouring out from all directions. Letty and Cirno were the next to debut, sending massive amounts of cold at the flames, ice forming underneath it and burning it out. Minoriko and Yuka encased many flames in vines and flowers, as living things could not be burned. The other tutors, however, could not do much. They simply stood and hope for the best.

A near twenty minutes later, the fire was extinguished, all rabbits accounted for, as residents. One 'Eirin Yagokoro', as she introduced herself, one 'Reisen Udongein Inaba', and one 'Kaguya Houraisan'. The doctor, illusion rabbit, and moon princess in respective order. They thanked all who helped them with great haste, glad everyone was okay. Rather hesitantly, Tsuna stepped forward.

"How did this happen?" he asked, obviously wondering how a fire could start in such a lush place.

"We're not entirely sure, but it can't be Mokou. She's out doing something with Keine, or so I heard…" Kaguya said, staring at everyone's expressions, before remembering. These people didn't know who they were. She cleared her throat a bit. "The fire demon couldn't have done it; she's out with a friend." The expressions changed to show a look of understanding in place of confusion.

"What we're sure of, though…is that absolutely nothing started this fire…" A shocked look from the crowd. "But someone. It has to be a youkai's doing…"

"But master, no other youkai controls flames, save for Kaenbyou, and she's down in Hell!" Reisen interrupted. This provided a good point…

"Just because you don't have control over fire doesn't mean you can't make it…It would've been easy. It could have been anyone around here…" Her eyes pan over the guests the mansion was supposed to have received…"…Maybe, even one of you…But I swear, if it was one of you…I will show NO MERCY!" She roars, staring at them with fierce eyes. They're mostly taken aback, but since none of them did it, there's no real reason to be scared.

"Are there any clues as to who did it?" Minoriko asked, taking a step forward. Eirin smiled a bit at the girl's will to help.

"At the moment, we've got one thing: A rather large crater, and some sort of meteorite inside of it. We would say it came from the moon, but it's highly doubtable. They wouldn't dare to harm the princess! After all—" A sudden yell interrupted her.

"What the fuck went on here, kora?!" A rather tall, blond man stepped out from the thick forests of bamboo, a man with wavy black hair and horns following after, and finally, the pessimistic goddess of leaves.

"I. Hate. My. Life." Shizuha whined. It had taken forever to find these two morons, and when she did, they got in a fight, and Lambo pulled out his ten year bazooka, hitting both him and the arcobaleno. "Can someone PLEASE tell me what is wrong with these two—" Again, an interruption…it smelled foul, and the footsteps were wild. A call came from beyond the green poles.

"ROMEOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Bianchi yelled loudly, going after whom she thought to be hr ex-boyfriend, but was really just Lambo, only aged. Lambo bristled with fright, running off in order to make his escape, Bianchi following shortly after, two poison dishes in hand.

"…Why…Why on Earth was I assigned to these MORONS?!" Shizuha whined yet again, burying her face in her hands and pouting heavily. Of course, this was only the beginning of Shizuha's troubles…All the youkai had to go with Eirin and the rest…Save for Shizuha. She'd stay to watch the humans.

"…Shit."


	5. Chapter 5

Yukarin had assembled every resident of Eientei, that being Tei, Eirin, Kaguya, and Reisen. Tei, of course, would be speaking on the rabbits' behalf. Nobody else could.

"The rabbits all say they saw nothing." Tei pouted, a hand on her own hip. Of course, not a single answer from all of them. Even if there were hundreds. "Reisen was busy practicing her illusions, and so, if she DID see anything, it can't be used for actual evidence." She shook her head sadly. "It doesn't seem like we're getting anywhere." The entire team of tutors looked pretty baffled. Even their wit put together was solving nothing.

"In addition, neither Kaguya nor I saw anything. I was treating my last patient, and Kaguya was…well, locked up in her room." Kaguya laughed nervously as Eirin went on.

"I-I just have a lot of free time…a-and I can't leave the mansion all that often…" She continued her nervous giggle. Yukarin sighed, promptly smashing her head onto the table.

"…We…are getting…nowhere." She grumbled, Minoriko patting her on the back slightly.

Meanwhile, at the Aki household, everything was…rather calm, actually. The kids were inside, and Bianchi and Shizuha had gotten along very well, helping to split the group into two parts, so that they could both watch over one. Bianchi had experience with the younger ones, so she was with Lambo and Colonello, along with Fuuta and I-Pin, who, although Yukarin never meant to gap them to Gensokyo, were thrown in by mistake anyhow after she forgot to close a gap that they walked into. They both made it through alright, especially since the gap landed in the Aki fields.

While Bianchi was left to take care of those she knew, Shizuha was sitting among the many guardians. "…So, there's only one female?" She asked, almost immediately. After explaining Chrome could summon Mukuro at times, therefore making her both in a way, Shizuha face palmed. "I-It's a like a reverse Gensokyo, this mafia of yours. One gender everywhere…" She looked up, and saw that someone was missing.

"…Where the hell did Fuuta go?"

Yukarin just left her head there on the table, everyone slightly afraid she was dead. Of course, she wasn't, but still. "C'mon, Yukarin, think. We may not have a witness, but what about motive…" She shook her head, reforming back to her original position. "Obviously, it was either revenge, or something about medicine." She thought for a moment. "Minoriko, you have favor with the humans. Please, fetch me the youkai records from Keine."

"Youkai records?"

"Documents that tell of every youkai that ever lived in Gensokyo. You're in there too. It's updated every time new youkai come to town, so about every year. Please, get me them so we can eliminate the impossibilities." Minoriko nodded, and ran.

Fuuta, having been curious, set out to the backyard. Not far beyond it was a forest filled with trees and odd air. Running along, he entered the woods, not caring where he was going, but simply curious. He dragged around the old ranking book, too, just to feel like he had a teddy bear. A sudden 'whoosh' came from behind him. Was that a red dress? And again, 'whoosh'. Green hair?

"What's a boy like you doing here? ~" A voice asked, a green haired girl suddenly in front of him. But she wasn't human. She was floating. A youkai at her best.


	6. Chapter 6

Fuuta stood there, shocked. The girl was floating, hands joined in the middle, as was her hair. She looked perfectly symmetrical, except for her dress, which had a green swirl stitched right in…A swirl very similar to that of the writing for 'curse'. Assuming everything before the girl had even a chance to lay a hand on him, he began to run, not caring to scream, as his throat was dry. Almost immediately, the green-hair appeared in front of him, holding seals in both of her hands.

"No, no~ I'm afraid I can't let you go anywhere~" She floated towards him, sticking a seal on his forehead. Then, she aimed again, this time for the mouth. But not before he could scream just once.

Upon hearing the scream, Shizuha tensed up, immediately hopping out of her seat and spilling tea all over the glass table.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! That little shit got himself into The Great Youkai Forest! No time to ask questions; grab your weapons and GO!" Shizuha literally flung the door open, nearly throwing it off of its hinges. She didn't care at the moment. Sure, a simple man was nothing to her, but a child…They were like leaves. They weren't meant to fall yet. Without another word to the group, she sprinted in the direction of the forest, where newfound cries could be heard.

Minoriko had quickly run to the village, bringing back the youkai records, trailing a Keine with her. ("She says they're extremely important, she has to watch them at all times.") The were-hakutaku gingerly took out the papers from the envelope, some crusty and old, others clean and new.

"It is vital that none of these are damaged, Miss Yakumo. Should even one picture be splotched, we will have to start all over again." Yukarin nodded, taking the papers carefully and looking them over.

Running, Shizuha and…well, only a few others arrived at the Great Youkai Forest. Chrome and Bianchi had been left to take care of the other kids, which they all had grudgingly agreed to. Ryohei was somewhere far away in the Aki fields, punching a tree, and so, it would have been a waste of time for Shizuha to pick him up. Running, she stood behind the green-hair, yelling her name, spell card in her hand.

"Hina Kagiyama!"

Hina spun around, facing Shizuha with a worried look in her eyes. "Shizu!" The blond growled at being called her nickname, but nevertheless tilted her head in question. "T-There was kid around here! And so, I put some seals on him to ward off the spirits! I had to shut him up first because he would attract attention, so I explained it to him, but now he's gone and AAAAAGH!" She spun around at an unreal velocity, causing a soft gust. "I-I think the kappa carried him off or something! P-Please go save him! He was an adorable little angel!" She spun around again, causing the same gust. With a final spin, she faded away, making worrisome sounds as the group advanced.

Yukarin sifted through the papers…There were about seven (or nine in one case) pictures on each page. Mokou already had quite the alibi…And Patchouli…wasn't she much too weak? Orin was to be in Hell, as was Utsuho. This was making no sense so far…

Running and huffing, Shizuha finally reached the kappa's river, and a blue-haired girl with pigtails sat on the riverbank, feet in the water.

"N-Nitori…K-Kawa…shiro…" She uttered, out of breath. She glanced over, pigtail spinning with her.

"Oh! It's you! Might you be looking for him?" She scooted aside, Fuuta showing himself. "He was in the Great Youkai forest with Hina. Even with her seals, there was no telling what would have happened! So I took him away! No hard feelings, right?" She smiled, tilting her head.

"…J-Just give us the kid—" Woosh.

"A new human in Gensokyo?! Wow, this is great!" Snap.

"P-Put me down! I-I don't like being this high!"

"Quiet, kid, you're my new scoop." Snapsnap.

"B-But—" Before Fuuta could say anything more, the suspicious woman carried him away. Looking to the waterfall with utter hatred, Shizuha screamed. One. Simple. Name.

"…AYAAAAA SHAMEIMARUUUUUUUUUUUU!"


	7. Chapter 7

Yukarin repeatedly slammed her head against the desk, and groaned loudly. "We have found out NOTHING! What are we going to do…" She sighed, stopping her self-inflicted pain for a while. Minoriko looked at her, thinking.

"Well, we could always simply put the guardians back in their training…it's bound to happen again if we act normal, right?" Minoriko nodded at her own suggestion.

"…I suppose. We'll do it…but we'll be extra careful—" Extra…that word brought a plan to mind. Yukarin's smile turned a little devilish…And she began rubbing her hands together. "Ahaha, this'll be perfect for the test~" She cooed to herself. With that, she slammed her hands on the table, laughing to herself. "MEETING DISMISSED!" She yelled, twirling around, having forgotten of the Eientei incident and flailing over her own plan. Minoriko sighed, shaking her head, and began to walk off when Yukarin handed her a note. She took it, and promised to deliver it.

Meanwhile, up on the Youkai Mountain, Shizuha was out of breath, and collapsed in front of Aya's house. "S-Stupid…kid…" She grumbled. Tsuna, Gokudera, and Yamamoto had all followed. Yamamoto, being the excellent athlete he was, was the only one to have energy to spare.

"Aha! We should do that again sometime! It was really energizing!" He smiled brightly, and if Gokudera had the energy, he would have kicked him. Yamamoto, of course, knocked on the door right afterwards, still smiling. A small girl with a sword and shield, complete with wolf appendages came to the door.

"Who are you, and what business do you have with Miss Shameimaru?" She asked, quickly. Her sword was already at his throat. She was growling, too. "I, Momijji, guardian of this mountain, will not let you pass until you say so!" Yamamoto just smiled nonchalantly.

"You see, some crow lady came down to the river and took a kid we really, really need to get back! Can we—" At that moment, from the very top of the mountain, by the shrine, something flew through Aya's roof, and several screams were heard.

"MY SCOOP!"

"H-HELP!"

"KEROOOO!"

Everyone blinked at the scene, and before they could respond, whatever crashed through the roof crashed through the other side and bounded towards the shrine, Fuuta in stow. Shizuha, still collapsed on the ground, got up, and looked at the shrine nervously. "…M-Moriya…" She stuttered. This was something very unusual to her. Her entire face became a blush, and she began to dust herself off frantically.

"H-How do I look? Is my hair okay? Are the leaves straight? O-Oh god!" Shizuha flailed, spinning around.

"Tch. What the Hell's the big deal about the shrine? We go in there, ask for the kid, and get him back. Simple." Gokudera huffed, thinking he'd really like a smoke right about now.

Shizuha flailed even more at the suggestion. "G-GO IN THERE? ARE YOU CRAZY? We can't just BARGE in there! Ohhh, Lady Moriya and Lady Yasaka would be so angry!" She screamed, flailing. "Q-Quick! I just want this over with!" She said, and began to run towards the shrine.

"H-Hey! Grr….stupid leaf lady…" Gokudera immediately followed her, and Yamamoto came not too long after. Tsuna, still catching his breath, looked up, and something—no, SOMEONE, popped their head out of the clouds, and waved at him. It was a girl with a peach hat and blue hair…And just as quickly as she was there, she was gone.

"…I think I need more sleep…" The boy sighed. "If I'm starting to see people pop out of clouds…" He shook his head, and continued on.

Down at the bottom of the mountain, near the Aki household, Hina had come to help take care of the children…Yet even with Bianchi, Chrome, and her, they were failing miserably.

"AHAHA! This sweet potato is Lambo-san's!"

"That's Ipin's sweet potato! Give it back, Lambo!"

"Would you both just SHUT UP, kora?!"

All of them looked at eachother, and each grabbed a child immediately. Bianchi took Lambo, Chrome took Ipin, and Hina, after getting smacked in the face with a rifle, took Colonello. They all sighed.

"How in the world are we going to keep these three under control…?" Hina said, shaking her head.

"If they really are this whiny, maybe they would like some of my cooking…"

All of them went silent.

Shizuha politely knocked on the door of the shrine, biting her fingernails as she waited. Within seconds, it opened, and a girl with bright green hair was there. "Hello, welcome to the Moriya shrine. My name is Sanae Kochiya and I—"

"Where's the kid?" Gokudera huffed, looking at the girl with obvious malicious intent , tell her if she said 'Hell if I know', she'd be dead by morning.

"Ah, jeeze, all the commotion over the kid…He's in the back yard, playing with Lady Moriya." Sure enough, giggles could be heard from the back yard, as well as frog croaks. "Here, let me walk you through…" She sighed, leading them…but hallway, a lady with blue hair and a red dress stopped them.

"Sanae, who are these people?" The woman looked rather irritated. "I thought I told you there were to be no parties until the next event!" She tapped her foot impaitiently, and before anyone else could say anything, Tsuna stepped forward.

"W-Well, we came looking for Fuuta! H-He was down in the forest, and then he kept getting kidnapped again and again, until he ended up here! We don't mean to intrude; we just want him back…" His face was flushed, and the woman blinked in surprise.

"Kanako. Kanako Yasaka." She extended her hand, which Tsuna nervously shook. "For a minute there, I thought you'd be EXACTLY like those people from the outside world…rude, uncaring…But you have a heart, I can tell." She smiled warmly at the small boy. "I'm the goddess of this shrine. The goddess of sky, is you were wondering…" This was slightly ironic to the brunette. Sky flames, sky goddesses… "The frog girl out back in the former goddess, although she receives faith too."

Tsuna just blinked. "…A-A goddess? Well, we've already seen a few…B-But thank you, I'll be right out to retrieve him!" He ran off, blushing without another word to the woman. Kanako turned her attention to the angsty-looking Gokudera and smiling Yamamoto.

"…So, you're from the outside world, I presume?" She smiled, holding up a copy of the bunbunmaru. "Word gets around fast, here, especially with Aya at the press." She laughed a bit, showing them the headlines:

**WIMPY BOY, IDIOT, AND ANGSTY TEENAGER TRAVEL WITH LONELY GODDESS TO RETRIEVE THEIR FRIEND. **

Gokudera twitched. "W-What? I am not angsty!" He growled. Kanako giggled softly.

"You're right, I'd say you're more the idiot."

"You aiming to pick a fight, you old hag?!" He growled.

"I would, but you would cut your wrists before I could land a hit!" She laughed even louder before Sanae slammed the broom on the floor.

"I just spent hours cleaning this place! I would honestly appreciate it if all my hard work wouldn't go to waste!" She yelled, pouting.

Outside, 'Lady Moriya' had introduced herself to Fuuta as 'Suwako', the frog goddess. Fuuta had immediately gotten rather confused, and so, she was busy trying to explain the concept of Gensokyo to him, aided with chalk and a board that came from nowhere.

"Thousands of years ago, Gensokyo was sealed off from the outside world…" She began, which eventually ended as. "AND THAT! Is why frogs are clearly better than snakes!" Tsuna had been listening for half the lecture now, and honestly wondered how it came to that.

"E-Excuse me, miss…" He stuttered, stepping forward. Fuuta immediately diverted his attention and clung to Tsuna.

"T-Tsuna-nii!" He cried, clinging to him all the more tight. "I-I was so scared! And then that lady with a rive r! And then NEWSPAPER! But then frogs! Andandand—" Tsuna patted his head, laughing a little.

"Calm down!" He said, returning the hug a bit. "A-Ah, forgive me, miss…?" He turned to the girl with the frog hat.

"Moriya! But just call me Suwako! The goddess of frogs!" She smiled, flailing around a bit. The girl was obviously energetic.

"Alright then…Suwako." Tsuna smiled a bit, though he heard yelling inside. Suddenly, it came to a halt.

"HEY!" A voice boomed from inside the shrine. "SUWAKO! LETTER!" Suwako's face lit up with glee, dashing inside.

"W-wait for us!" Tsuna called after, and ran inside with her. Minoriko was standing there, and smiled at her student, handing Suwako a blank envelope. The girl stares at it before proceeding to rip it open, and read the letter cheerfully.

"Oh, sure! Tell her I accept! I love doing this!" She exclaimed, and trotted off to her room. Tsuna smiled back at Minoriko, walking towards her.

"S-So, is it alright if we head back home now?" He said, and Minoriko smiled and nodded.

"Lady Yasaka, many apologies for coming in and leaving, but I simply have to leave." She stated, giving a small bow. The woman nodded and gave her a 'shoo' motion with her hand. Minoriko politely walked out, everyone else sighing and following. "Thank you~" She called after her, and with that, lead everyone down the mountain.

Arriving home, most flopped right back on their beds, and their tutors came over one by one to pick them up.

"Yamamoto, come here. It's time to go~" Ran cooed across the house, and Chen stood there, to nervous to ask for Chrome. She came anyways, and pet Chen's ears as well.

"Extreme, ze!" Marisa called. This was her new little nickname for Ryohei, who met her with a highfive at the door. They'd gotten to know eachother pretty well, actually.

"…Kyoya. Mugenkan. Now." Yuka said, very firmly. Hibari gave her a short glare, and walked ahead of her, not caring.

Gokudera and Lambo were left, of course. As was Colonello, who seemed to slowly be getting used to Shizuha's attitude.

"…Finally. Everyone is gone…" Minoriko sighed, finishing washing the dishes. "They'll need their rest. I head something's happening in two days…something big. We're doing lots of training tomorrow, Tsuna. You better be up early, before the first squash flower blooms!" She laughed, and went back to cleaning. Of course…

She honestly meant it.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, Tsuna was dreaming peacefully. He had never joined the mafia, his home tutor was normal, but he still met all of his great friends by odd coincidence…Suddenly, a sweet potato he was eating in this dream began to talk.

"Up…Child, you must get up now! We have to start!" Tsuna stared at it, a vision fading slowly in and out of his head under the dominant one took over. His eyes were open, and Minoriko was standing above him, already dressed. She poked him repeatedly, repeating the word 'up'. Tsuna sat up, but Minoriko kept poking, scowling a little, repeating the word, again and again. When it came time for Tsuna to put on fresh clothes, she stood outside the door, waiting.

"D-Do we really have to get up this early…?" The boy queried, horribly tired.

"Of course! The first test is just next week, don't you know?!" Minoriko seemed awfully surprised.

"W-WHAT?! Next week?! How am I—Who am I—"

"Secret." She gravely replied, smirking a little. "You won't know~ Not for a while now~" Judging by her cheery tone, she was expectant of him to win this. "I don't care who it is! The dumb ice fairy or the hell raven! We're going to work to win!"

"…I-I guess so…" Tsuna walked out of the room, clothed rather casually. He didn't have time to pack, so Yukarin just gapped a couple of his drawers into the house. Walking, Minoriko followed right by him, but not before an angry growl was heard.

"W-Wait, T-tenth…" Gokudera grumbled, hopping out of bed. He rushed over, already clothed from the night before, as he never took the clothes off. "I'm training with you." He said, rather firmly. Minoriko shook her head, twice as such.

"No. These trainings are fit only for the sky guardians. Storm is not allowed." She stamped her bare foot against the wooden floor, face showing no emotion but disapproval. "You will wait for your tutor to arrive, and train with no one else until then." Gokudera scowled, pulled at his own hair, and grumbled, going back to bed. Minoriko quickly lead Tsuna outside, standing in the autumnal fields with him.

Once there, Minoriko took a stance, drawing out her spell cards, and Tsuna stood there, baffled.

"What are you standing there for? Put your gloves on, it's time to train!" From beside him, a giggle was heard, and the gloves with '27' on them were suddenly there.

"W-WHAT?!" He asked, putting on the gloves. "F-Fighting already?" Minoriko gave him an awkward look.

"It's…a warm-up…" She blinked, taking out her 'Autumn Sky and a Maiden's Heart'. "Not too hard to dodge…Oh look, a bird." She pointed behind Tsuna, who completely fell for it. While he was distracted, red and blue bullets began flying, and Minoriko looked very unimpressed as Tsuna was basically dancing around them and screaming the whole way through. When the spell was over, Tsuna just sat on the ground, and Minoriko shook her head.

"I-I'll never get this! At all! How do think this is possible?!" Minoriko smiled slightly at Tsuna's horrible view. She simply pointed to a flower between them, just now budding.

"We're like flowers, you know…" She said, sounding ominous as a flower appeared in her hand. "We slowly change, every second, no matter how you look at it. Every day, we look to the sky and say 'It's time to work. It's to do this, it's time for that.' We keep doing all of these things, no matter what they may be, and with each and every one of these, we become stronger, even if only a little. Eventually, all this skill and knowledge is bundled up and ready to burst, until…eventually…we bloom." With that, the flower sprung open in her hand, staring daintily back at her.

"Not everyone is going to bloom the same way. Not everyone is a tiger lily, or a rose. Some are dandelions, others violets…It doesn't matter who we are, we're always going to bloom at one point or another, and when that time comes, you'll be glad you did what you did…Do you understand what I am telling you, Tsuna…?" The boy blinked in surprise, getting up slowly, seeming relaxed.

"…I think I do…" The boy nodded, having found new confidence. "But please, let's start out easy…"

Down in Hakugyokurou, Chen and Chrome were both panting heavily, covered with wounds and bruises alike. Chen unleashed her 'Blue Oni Red Oni' just as Chrome summoned a lava illusion, both hitting them each other harshly. With a 'thump', both called out a name.

'M-Mukuro-sama…'

'Y-Yukarin…'

Mist began to fill the room, and as it cleared, there was a more masculine version of Chrome, standing there, smiling a devilish smile as he grasped the trident. Looking through the mist, he could see the faintest shadow of a woman, and a soft giggle was heard.

"I have been waiting and waiting~ Mister Rokudo~" Yukarin cheerily called. The mist cleared, and she was wearing a fancy dress. The entire dining hall of the Netherworld has been transformed into an eloquent ballroom, and looking down, Mukuro didn't seem the least bit surprised that he was also dressed appropriately. "You know, I thought it would be fun to tango with you, just maybe~" She swayed a bit, holding her fan to her face as she let out a small giggle. Without warning, she grasped his hands, throwing the trident out of them, but the man kept his composure, guard up as Yukarin did her thing. She spun him around a couple times, dipping him as well, and leaned in close to his face.

"You think you're getting out alive? Just because we're dancing? Wrong." She giggled right to his face and pulled him back up. Neither looked fancy anymore, and the room was full of death traps, and Yukarin seemed to edge towards one ever so slowly, dance-dragging the other along.

"Kufufu~ Think that'll stop me? ~" Mukuro replied in an equally cheery tone, swinging her around and nearly cutting her with a needle that stuck from the floor. Yukarin just smiled and laughed, both of them trying to force the other into some kind of death trap, switching positions to avoid them.

"NO, NO, NO! Yew have tew hit them like THIS!" Cirno gave the ice block a hard punch, causing a large crack to be seen. The poor ice fairy was flailing about, trying to teach the small cow how to break the toughest ice she could manage to create. Lambo was teary eyed and mumbling to himself:

'Gotta…stay…calm…'

Of course, whenever he did this, he completely failed. Within a moments notice, the ten year bazooka was out, and Cirno was again curious. And so, both were shot, yet again. The older Lambo mumbled yet again, this time in frustration, and the older Cirno smirked at him.

"Well, I've been waiting to come back here…before that future of ours…" She sighed, shaking her head, wings spreading. "Either way, I suppose I really must get to whipping you into shape! Come now, come now, fight me will all of your will!" Cirno's voice may have been frostbite itself, cold, teasing, and demanding all in one. Without another word, the ice in the lake cracked into small floating islands, both of which the two were standing on. Blue bullets began to appear from behind her, crossing over one another in odd spirals. Lambo just shook his head, taking a fighting stance as he began to dodge to the best of his ability, this matured fairy quite the opponent.

Sunflowers all around had been broken, from the very base of their stalks, and some were completely missing. Others were fried, and still some were just slightly smoldering.

"You're making me fuck up these flowers! I thought you'd be an easy target but NOOOO, you have to be a persistent little whore!" Yuka yelled at Hibari, aiming yet another spark at him, trying to kill as few flowers at possible.

"Maybe you wouldn't be doing so badly if your aim wasn't hurt by your eyesight, old hag." Hibari scowled at the other, dodging the giant laser, and Yuka screamed in fury, aiming a double spark at him. Hibari dodged with a few steps backwards, seeing as how the sparks separated if they were far enough away.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!"

"So slow, ze! ~" Marisa cheerily called to the boy who was running behind her at an extremely fast pace. This was normal for Ryohei, to run this fast, but Marisa's broom was even faster. The boy wasn't very tired, but…

"Let's spice it up some!" And suddenly, there were blue stars, flying at him and beside him. He managed to jump a few, but this was really taking out his energy…"Come on, ze, you can do it!"

"Please do try harder. This is frightfully boring…" The winter spirit sighed, moving left and right to avoid poorly thrown bombs. "I really thought you could do better." She shook her head as the silverette below growled.

"Shut up already! Rocket bomb!" Suddenly, there were stick of dynamite everywhere, and Letty moved aside to dodge it…however, it suddenly rebounded right at her. With an explosion, Letty plopped down into the snow, huffing.

"…Nicely…done…" She smirked.

"What the hell are you smiling about?!" Gokudera scowled.

Letty just pointed up the mountain…to the avalanche coming down it.

Ran was completely unscathed, looking extremely unimpressed. "Now, now, you know you should be doing better…" She shook her head, swinging the Yakumo Family sword at Yamamoto's, just hard enough to make a couple sparks fly. Like Ran, the boy was completely unhurt…Now, the Netherworld's dining hall had been taken…so they were fighting in the harvest fields instead. Being backed up to the house, Ran could hear everything that was going on inside.

"Stop." Ran slashed her sword against Yama's one last time. "…The house is deathly silent…" And sure enough, walking to the front of the door…

'Went to go have tea with some nice looking ladies from a mansion!' –Fuuta, Ipin, Colonello, Bianchi, Shizuha, and Hina.

"…This…isn't good."

Somewhere, Fuuta and Colonello had gotten separated from the group that they had originally made…And a dark cackle came out of nowhere. Or so they thought.

"Oh look, two little kids!~" A blond haired girl clothed in black exclaimed, smiling at the two innocently. Her arms were spread out straight to her sides…She giggled lightly, opening her eyes, showing off the red irises so brightly at night…

"…W-Who are you…?" Fuuta managed to stutter, wondering where everyone else was. Sakuya had gone looking for him, at the order of the mistress, but everyone else proceeded onward. Speaking of which, the poor woman was flying around in the night sky, looking frantically for the boy, and calling out his name above the trees, which he could not hear.

"Oh, My name is Rumiaaa~" She drew out her own name. "I may as well tell you before you get eaten by me, right?~" Fuuta shrieked, the girl moving ever closer-Only to be hit by a combination of bullets and knives.

"Stay the FUCK away, kora!"

"Please do. I've already wasted enough knives tonight." The maid stated, having appeared in front of them in no time. "I wonder why you even bother sometimes, Rumia."

The blonde demon scowled, going high into the air, hissing at the maid and child below. "I'll kill you, Izayoi, I swear it!" And with that, she faded off into the darkness. "Come, children. Surely, the mistress is at the gate by now…" Without hesitation, the maid began to walk into the woods, Fuuta making sure to stay close behind.

Soon after, they got to the SDM. Surprisingly, Meiling was actually awake, and saluted them all formally.

"Izayoi and guests, welcome!" He stood her ground, looking fiercely at Fuuta, before smiling softly and shaking his hand. "Do take care~" Fuuta smiled right back, and the gates swung open. Before Colonello could toddle in after them, Meiling bent down and whispered to him:

"Whatever you do, don't offer to go downstairs to do anything." And with that, resumed her position. Colonello stared at this woman, trying to see what other things she would spout out…Meanwhile, most people were in the dining room of the mansion, sipping tea, and Sakuya set them there as well.

"All are accounted for, milady." She bowed to each in turn. "My name is Sakuya Izayoi. If you need anything pertaining to cleaning, foods, or drink, simply call for me." With that, she was gone. Just…gone. Shizuha was not amused in the slightest. "Weirdo, with her time stopping powers." Within a flash, the teacup was balanced on Shizuha's head, instead of on her saucer. "…Clever."

The woman who had invited them over laughed a bit. "Quite normal of Sakuya. Although she never seems to pull any of these pranks on me…" She laughed. "Oh, by the way, before it becomes a big shock…" From her back, two wings spread. "I'm a vampire, to let you all know. Now, I'm not going to hurt you. I can't even drink as much as a human holds, so…" She shook her head a bit. "I am Remilia Scarlet, owner of this vast home. The maid, as she has told you, is Sakuya Izayoi. The gate guard is Hong Meiling, and lastly, the librarian, Patchouli Knowledge." Fuuta's little eyes brightened.

"A-A library? H-How big?"

"It's Voile. You tell me, child."

"…Voile is ranked first for biggest library! I-I have to go see it!" The boy sounded so excited.

"Alright, alright~" Remilia giggled. 'Sakuya~ Take this boy to Voile at once!" Within a flash, Fuuta was gone, and she simply smiled.

"…" Shizuha sighed heavily…it had been a long day for her. "I think I'll go for a walk…I'll be in the gardens if you need me." She got up, and strangely enough, Colonello followed this 'Nana' of his outside. That left Bianchi, Hina, and Ipin. Remilia looked at them. "It's getting rather late out, isn't it…You may retire to any of these rooms if you wish. Heading back will only bring youkai." She shook her head. Hina was the only one to remain after this.

"…You do know one of them is going to go to HER, right?"

"I'm aware. I wish you didn't have to, though…" Hina shook her head. "Who is it?"

"I was thinking the boy. Brown hair." Remilia smiled.

"…N-No. Please, not him…"

"Either him or the blonde~" She cooed, stirring her tea nonchalantly.

"…How about neither?" Hina smirked, hands on her spell cards.

"Humph. Puny stage two good-for-nothing. Don't try; I'll twist your fate so you die in a gruesome way."

"…Humph." Hina pouted right back. "…What if they defeat her?"

"Free to go. You know the rules about her…" Just then, an envelope smacked Remilia in the face, and she tore it open, looking rather angered. "…Never mind. Nobody is to be sent down there. Not today…" She shook her head. "…I suppose she can't die anyhow."

A little blonde girl sat in the basement of the mansion, shuddering and whispering things to herself.

"Hello, my name is Flandre…would you like to play?" She mumbled. "Riiiip." She imitated the sound of something tearing…how frightfully bored Flandre was. "…Where's my new playmate…?"

Patchouli quirked a brow at Fuuta. After 15 minutes, he hadn't really gotten on her nerves. Book enthusiast, cheerful, willing to help, called her his big sister..."Alright then. You've helped around, you've been nice…but you're hiding something, I can tell." The purple-haired girl mumbled.

"…W-Well, there isn't much I haven't shown you…e-except for when I rank…"

Patchouli looked rather curious. "Go on then, show me everything that happens." And suddenly, everything was floating. Fuuta was spurting out information about her, some things…that she didn't want known. "Whoa, whoa! Stop! Now! I-I've seen enough, thank you!" She was rather flustered… "B-But fine, you can check out a book…" And Fuuta cheered.

Shizuha stood in the gardens…no doubt, everyone had completed training. It was quiet out here, peaceful…lonely. And then suddenly—by some miracle (or misfire)—A hand tapped her shoulder. Behind her was the blond child himself, but in his older form. He looked at her a few moments.

"…Wait, kora. I know you…You were in that bamboo forest thing…Right? When everyone got stuck in this…demon place." He blinked a couple times, and then smiled. "Yeah, that's right! Man, that was a long time ago, kora!" Shizuha stared. Had he come to make idle chitchat, or was there something important? "Oh yeah…I almost forgot. Shizuha…A-Aki, right, kora?" Shizuha actually gave a smile.

"Ten years and you still know it. Impressive." Shizuha gave a compliment, which was…uncommon for her. "You remember this rather well, I assume?" She quirked a brow at him, as if expecting a right answer.

"Pretty damn well, kora. Especially…after that…THING in the basement! What the fuck was she, kora?"

"You don't even wanna know…" She sighed, and began walking with him, talking through the night.


	9. Chapter 9

Colonello's eyes fluttered open easily that morning in the SDM, blinking a little wearily. He was still tall, with an older appearance and everything…But that wasn't what concerned him. What DID concern him was the fact that he was, one: partially naked, down to his underwear, and two: In bed with a certain autumn goddess. He silently screamed, flailing and falling out of the bed without managing to wake Shizuha up. And there, in front of his face, as if someone KNEW where he was going to land, was a note. '_Got you. –Sakuya'_. He grumbled curses to himself, wanting to tear that damned maid apart.

Speaking of the maid, she had just woken up the two toddlers, gently nudging them out of bed and into fresh clothes. The sneaky woman took their sleeping as an opportunity to snatch up a fresh pair of clothes for every one of them. The woman had all the time in the world, why not? Of course, instead of eating breakfast, Fuuta had dashed off to the library. Bianchi and herself were preparing a (non-poisonous) feast for breakfast, and all others were waiting in the dining room.

"Uwah~ Patchouli-nee, how do you make so many pretty things like that?" Fuuta stared up in amazement at all the elemental magic the anemic was showing off.

"Well, there's lots of incantations and focusing to be done. It's not as easy as it looks, firing danmaku." Patchouli shook her head some. "People think it's just about slapping a name on a card and seeing what comes out. You're supposed to fire, think it over, revise, fire again, and repeat until you're good with it. THEN you name it. Tsk." Fuuta just smiled cheerily.

"I wanna try!" The young boy said, rather excitedly. Patchouli quirked a brow at him, and then began giggling lightly.

"You can't even fly, child! What makes you think you—"…And then, he was floating. Like everything else in the room now. "…Well then. Bleh, what can you do again? You'll probably be some kind of…Satori remake if you try." She shrugged. "Show me what you can do--"Again, the girl was cut off, Fuuta's ranking book suddenly flipping open. Her gaze widened a little, just as Fuuta announced the name.

"[Ranking] Greatest Gifts: 'Seven-Librarian's Knowledge'" Suddenly, purple bullets from all sides encased the woman inside of a pentagon, no matter which way she moved. It was rotating, too. Not long after the card had started, bullets fired outwards from each corner of the pentagon, forming spirals. Suddenly, they all turned around, aimed for the purple-hair, who followed small, curved paths that lead to their outside. Sadly, at soon as the first set started moving towards her, a second set was fired. Patchouli, having moved, also moved the pentagon—the spawning point of the bullets. She'd gotten herself screwed up, mixing the pattern like that—and barely made it through.

"Agh—What the?" Patchouli stammered, the spell card timing out. 'What…what in the world was that? Are you a natural born danmaku shooter? When did you start? How? Are you sure you're human?" Patchouli looked utterly fascinated by the young boy, who was just standing there, scribbling something down.

"…Hmm? O-Oh! I guess when I rank things like your's…" He stammered, looking up at the anemic demon. "Maybe they're just so powerful they become spells?" He tilted his head, having written down Patchouli's IQ ranking. Number one.

"…Maybe it does…"

Meanwhile, every guardian and tutor was completely exhausted from training. They had all met in the Netherworld, and even Yuka and Hibari, usually the 'I'm not tired' people, flopped on a couch or bed. Ran took no mind of her manners anymore, and fell asleep on top of Yuka, whom at this point, had no energy to care. Minoriko was blatantly yawning along with Tsuna, both of whom usually had enough manners not to. Yukarin thought of their sweet potato scent as a make up for it. Letty was just…tired, and slept outside, while Gokudera collapsed in front of a fire, shivering. Marisa was snoozing, hat over her face, and Ryohei was sprawled nearby. Yukarin and Mukuro, having only danced, had the decency to use a room in the mansion.

That is, until a mother fucking UFO crashed through a window. Nobody really stood straight and alert but Yukarin and Ran. Great, a broken window for their household. Of course, no sooner had the UFO entered than a mouse youkai came in and snatched it back. "YOINK!" She blurted out, running away. Ran, of course, was too tired to catch up. Yukarin was apathetic at this point. 'We'll fuck 'em up tomorrow…" She muttered, collapsing.

That evening, near everyone was sore—if only a little. Minoriko's back cracked when she stood up, Gokudera's knee did the same, all that good stuff! Many groans were heard throughout the crowd as each one woke up, and many resumed their duties. Not much happened at the SDM—Well, actually, it did.

Sakuya was doing her job, mopping, cleaning, doing chores…until suddenly, there was a scream.

"SAKUYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" It was a childish voice. It was muffled, and there was no doubt it came from the metal door behind her. She shakily stared at it. "…Mis…tress?" Her voice was quivering as a dent appeared in the door, a loud bang resounding. And then another, another, until BAM. It flew right off of its hinges. A small, blond-haired girl, clothed in red was dragging someone. Her wings shone through the dust like little lamps, the crystals swaying. As the smoke cleared, she had a rather tall man behind her, being dragged by the collar of his t-shirt. His hair was blond, medium-length, and he had quite the tattoo trailing down his left arm. The man was obviously grasping at his collar, squirming for air, but was thrown against the wall by Sakuya.

"You brought me a BIG person toy! I can't play with it!" The young vampire huffed. The maid flailed a bit.

"I-I did nothing of the sort, Miss Flandre! The locks have not been undone for weeks!" This was clear by their rust, but Flandre didn't care. She began to raise her arm, to crush the maid…When a whip suddenly wrapped around her arm, stopping it.

"She did…nothing…" The man muttered, one eye squinted closed as he stood up. "I was dumped here…by some weird purple hole…" Seeing Flandre calming down, he took back his weapon from her arm, the girl brushing it slightly.

"…Purple hole…? That sounds like fun!" The little vampire began to jump up and down, running around Sakuya. "I wanna play I wanna play! I wanna—" At this point, she was just…gone. And there, in front of them was in fact, Yukarin's gap. The maid sighed.

"Well, she'll know how to deal with her…" Shaking her head, she began to drag the man back to the dining room. "We have matters to discuss."

These 'matters' were a little more complicated than need be. Every single original SDM resident seated at the table across from Dino. Immediately, Remilia stood.

"Who are you?"

"Dino, the Cavallone Decimo."

"Occupation."

"Mafia Boss."

"Business here?"

"…Kidnapped, I think."

"By whom?"

"I haven't a clue."

The vampire sat down with an angry huff, Dino keeping his cool extremely well. Although, his men weren't around, so…

Meiling was the next to stand up.

"By what means?"

"A strange hole in the ground; I tripped into it." The man laughed slightly, Meiling looking furious.

Sakuya pushed Meiling down calmly; she was the only one with a smirk on her face.

"Why aren't you nervous?"

"I am."

Somewhere, people were getting letters from all over, much like those of Remilia's and Suwako's. A nun delivered hers to her god, a cat to its owner, a shinigami to it's judge, a rabbit to it's nurse, and a servant to her princess. Yukarin smiled somewhere the next day. Every letter sent back was marked with a seal—in order. Bat, ghost, moon, flower, mountain, cave, and star. And to think: it was all only one day away…

She hadn't even STARTED on danmaku with these guys. Oh well, it's only the first, right…? Even then, they'd still use hand to hand combat.

And besides, she'd…intervene if needed.

Right?


	10. Chapter 10

Dino, after a lengthily explanation of where he was, who Flandre is, and where everyone else was, was put in a bed, so that he might be able to rest until the next morning. The night in the mansion was eerily quiet. Usually, most could hear a book or two topple from Voile. Some could hear Sakuya speeding down the hallways. Sometimes, even Flandre's cries rang out. Everyone could sleep soundly enough, as the noises were only a muffle. But still, with how it was so quiet, one might've thought the grave silence was a foreshadowing…

The next morning, at dawn, Tsuna woke as if it was habit now. Oddly enough, Minoriko had not come to wake him. Rising up, peeking from the doorway in his boxers, he could hear Minoriko resting well. Gokudera? Doing the same, as well as the other little toddlers. Tsuna whined curiously, getting dressed. Casually, he walked to the front door.

Bam.

No sooner had he laid his hand on the knob than had the autumn goddess herself burst through the door. Sizuha growled, yelling right past Tsuna.

"MINORIKO, YOU DUMBASS! IT'S TODAY. AS IN, NOW!" There was a short and eeire silence before the most piercing of screams flooded the house, managing to wake everyone up. Gokudera slumped lazily out of the room, grumbling curses-before the harvest goddess dashed into his room, grabbed some of his clothes, and forcefully clothed him.

"Don't squirm, you insolent dolt! We're going to be late!" Tossing her hat on, and throwing both guardians their rings, she grabbed Tsuna by the hand, dragging him along. Shizuha took the toddlers, and Gokudera had no choice but to follow the tenth.

"Shizuha, you remember how to get to the graveyard, right?" Minoriko asked her sister, whom nodded. Running as fast as they could, flurries of plants and leaves were making their trail.

"Take a right! Left! Keep going straight…over the river! Right again, and HERE!" Shizuha concluded with a huff. With both children in hands, she observed the cold, desolate air of the graveyard. However, in the middle, there was something rather disrespectfully festive. Outfits and people of all colors had gathered to see this. See what? They didn't know. Rushing over, Minoriko tapped a pink-dressed, blond-haired woman on the shoulder.

"Yes?" Yukarin asked, turning around.

"Are we late? If we are, Im terribly sorry, I overslept and I-"

"It's alright. We were just about to begin, anyhow." Yukarin gapped a megaphone from nowhere and yelled into it. "TAKE YER DAMNED SEATS!" Afterwards, she flicked it off, giggling like a maniac. Nobody took hesitation in sitting down. Yukarin slyly smiled, pulling the cover off of a large wheel with the help of Ran. On each section of this game-show-like wheel was inscribed the design of a specific vongola ring. "Hello, everyone, ladies, gentlemen, and youkai alike! Welcome to the 5th M-I grand prix-" She was suddenly cut off as Ran whispered something to her. "…I-I mean, WELCOME TO THE FIRST, AND LAST, VONGOLA VS. GENSOKYO MATCHOFFS!" She grinned brightly as everyone stared with odd looks. "Requested by their tutor and supported by many others, this event is not for shameless fighting-it will give all who participate a grand lesson and hopefully, encourage them to do better, all while getting stronger! Today is the first of six matches! Each match shall be held weekly starting from the Sunday today! Participants for the visiting team, you have not been informed because with the way you should be training, anything can come! Whenever! So you need to be prepared!" Yukarin grinned wildly, laughing a bit. "…Now, shall we have those contestants from the Vongola team stand up and joined me at the front?" Although it took some urging from their tutors, each one grudgingly stood at the front. Looking back on the crowd, there were certainly a lot of people with wings and such… "And now, I introduce you to our two helpers and judge for this event! Please welcome! Komachi Onozuka! And! Sikieiki Yamaxanadu!" Yukarin waved her hands in the air as a girl with pinkish hair, wielding a wavy scythe, and a green haired woman, wearing a symmetrical blue and gold outfit adorned with ribbons, came out. Sikieiki took the microphone from Yukarin gently. "Thank you, Miss Yakumo. It is a pleasure to be such a judge of events." She nodded, the crowd applauding her. She silently passed it onto Komachi.

"Thank you, thank you…My name is Komachi Onozuka, for those of you who didn't know. I transport the spirits across the Sanzu River, where the Yama, Miss Sikieiki, judges them. I do believe that's enough introduction, correct?" Sikieiki nodded. "With that, I do believe we should begin our interviews." The crowd, once again, cheered. "Let's start with the most important part-The holder of the sky flame. The one said to accept all. Let's give it up for Sawada Tsunayoshi!" SHe smiled brightly as another roaring cheer rang out. Tsuna couldn't help but blush. "So, tsuna, are you looking forward to these battles?"

"I-I can't say I am, b-but I'm sure many will be interesting!" He seemed flustered…

"Ah, I see, I see. Your opponent says she'd 'like to have you for tea' after this is over! How do you respond? I mean, what do you think she'll be like."

"E-Eh? W-With intentions as sweet as those, c-can she really be that strong…?"

AN interesting noise murmured through the crowd. "Next up! Yamamoto Takeshi! Ah, Yamamoto, you share the same 'Yama' as our judge here! Perhaps this will earn you favor-"

"Don't push it, Onozuka."

"R-Right. Anyhow, Your opponent say she'd 'like to have you tell her about her garden'! Ahhh, she might have the hots for you, you know, talking so freely to an opponent like that. I'd heard she's really cute, too~" Komachi smiled a rather…derpy smile, as if trying to act lovestruck.

"A-Ah, if she feels that way, really, thank her. I'd love to see her garden too!" A couple giggles were sent throughout the audience.

"Next, Hayato Gokudera. Ah, sir, you don't happy at all to be here. You look like you were dragged out-"

"Of my bed? Yeah. By some prissy autumn whore who proceeded to basically feel me up."

"HEY! I DID NOTHING OF THE SORT AND-hmphmmffrffmff!" Shizuha quickly covered her sister's mouth, shouting apologies all while laughing.

"Ah, I see, I see! Miss Aki, hat's a very bad thing for a girl your age to do, eh, Sikieiki-sama?~"

"Quite~"

"Anyhow, Hayato, your opponent says she'll 'be done with you in less than a second'! How do you respond?"

"Tell her it'll only take me half of the time she uses." Several 'ohoho's went through the audience.

"Aha, wonderful~ Next, Mister Hibari Kyoya! My, my, don't you look sullen-"

"Shut up or I'll bite you to death."

"…My, my, Sikieiki-sama, I believe we have a-Ow! Hey! Jeeze, I was just kidding! You don't need to bop me like that…t-the both of you! Anyhow! Your opponent says she'll 'toy with you until you break'. I don't think she means psychologically."

"Even if I break, my shards would still cut her, no?"

"Ahhh, determined until the end! I like it! Next, Sasagawa Ryohei! How do you feel about-"

"EXTREME!"

"…I-I see! Your opponent says that she 'can beat you even when at her sickest. Your response?"

"GET MORE MILK IN YOUR SYSTEM! GET BETTER, OLD LADY-CHAN!" Roars of laughter came from near everyone in that audience.

"A-Ah! R-Right! Anyhow! Miss Dokuro…o-or is it Mister Mukuro today? Ehehe!"

"I-It's just Chrome, miss…"

"Ah, no need to be so formal! Anyhow, your opponent says…oh, my, this is a long one. She says she'd like to 'see you try those illusions with her. Even in the dark, you can't hide from me, and even in the day, I'll capture you under my blanket of night.' H-How would you respond…?"

"…That I'll try my best."

"I see…A-Alright, next, we have…Lambo. Uh, where is he…"

"Down here! Lambo-san is down here!"

"S-Sikieiki-sama, how could you let a child play in-"

"He will be fine."

"…A-As you say. Anyhow, your opponent says…she'd…erm…I can't read this. Sikieiki-sama…?"

"She'd…like to play with you again? Oh my, it sounds so sweet! I-If it even says that! Possibly, his opponent is a long lost friend of sorts?"

"Possibly! Anyhow, that concludes our introductions! Now, we've et the contestants-but who will go first? Yukari, please, spin the wheel!"

"My pleasure!"

The gap youkai gave the wheel the fastest spin she ever had. Tick, tick, tick, slowly became Rain, Sun, Storm…until finally, Mist. It halted there, Chrome suddenly looking stiff.

"Ahhh, it seems Chrome is up! Please, proceed into the prepared arena! Miss Shameimaru and others shall be watching from afar from…Miss Yukarin, you called them televisions?"

"Yes."

"Ah, but Aya shall be recording the event, so as to review and broadcast it later. Now, on with the show!" Komachi ushered Chrome inside, and all sat down from that point on. Their point of attention was the giant screen above them. Slowly, chrome came into view in the arena, waiting for her opponent. Looking around, Tsuna had found that quite a few of their friends were here. Fuuta, Ipin, Dino…everyone had gathered to cheer her on? Even after being dumped in such a strange world? Tsuna had finally reached that state of warm fuzzies you get when you know everything's right-But that was shattered when Colonello, baby-like, yet fierce as ever yelled:

"She almost tried to eat us, kora!"

Fuuta looked where the blond was pointing. Indeed, in front of Chrome, floating with her arms outstretched, was Rumia.


	11. Chapter 11

Chrome stood there, shivering. A floating monster…to think, it was scary enough at first, but now, it wanted her dead!

"Such a cute little opponent…Maybe I can take that trident of your's and use it as a fork!~"

"A-Ah…"

Chen sat in the audience, staring intently at the screens above her. She'd taught the girl well, correct? Which meant if any harm should come to her, it would be all her fault…

Two girls sat in the near back, staring up at the large screen. One seemed utterly bored to be there, the other kept a smile plastered on her face.

"…I doubt this girl will stand a chance. I can only faintly read it, but her heart is full of fear."

"…"

"Yes, I know, we could, but…"

"…"

"I suppose you're right, it certainly wouldn't earn us points to have this happen. On with it then."

The bell signaling the start of the fight had rung, and Rumia grinned widely at the mere sound.

"Ohhh, it seems it's time! Prepare to perish, snack of mine!~ Waha!" She swooped in, arms on either side of her stretched out. Chrome stood like a deer in the headlights, until time seemed to slow, and a cryptic voice crawled through her mind, eerily joyous in tone.

_{T'would feel to one as an uneven match,_

_I'll give you some help,_

_But there's always a catch!_

_Defeat the girl_

_By solving the riddle_

_Shadows are where you two meet—_

_In the middle!}_

The voice faded, and time sped up. Chrome pondered this message for a mere moment—before Rumia's arm whacked her in the face, causing her to flip backwards. The girl ever so elegantly stuck the trident into the ground as she flipped, grabbing hold of it to flip back over.

"My, my, it seems so boring to me, this fight! Let me get this over with nice and quick! My shadows will cover the sun and leave you bird-eyed fools to die!" The girl cackled, spinning around and then raising her arms up high. Chrome stood still, driving away the fear in her heart as shadows began to cover the sky…

"My, my, you've gotten me so worked up, even things like this are just ever so easy! EYAHAHAHA!" The arena became dark, and all that could be heard was the sound of heavy breathing and footsteps. "Such a foolish human, trying to r—"

The shadow youkai let out a scream, then a roar, and finally, a gasp and quick yell for help. There was the sound of metal hitting flesh somewhere in the darkness, and the audience went forward in their seats, cheering loudly.

As soon as it came, it vanished, the shadows departing from the arena. Chrome stood victorious, hanging onto her trident much like a crutch, and the blonde carnivore lay knocked out on the ground. The crowd cheered wildly, Chrome looking up at the camera with a light smile.

"That was amazing!"

"What happened in there?"

The tutors and her friends all questioned her like a news reporter wanting a good scoop, and she laughed, flattered.

"It was…nothing, really…I just had to make the sky dark—I can see through my own illusions, of course…" As long as Rumia had thought she brought upon the shadows and not the illusionist, it was all fine!

"Well, there you have it, folks!" Komachi yelled to the crowd. "The first battle of seven, victor being the Vongola team!" She gave a cheer, but Sikieiki quickly grabbed the microphone.

"Matches are dismissed for the time being. Satori, and Koishi Komeiji. I need to speak to you."

The cheering ceased immediately and mumbles went throughout the crowd. The Yama gave a glare to nobody in particular, and everyone started to leave, one by one.

The two girls sitting in the back got up and approached the front. The tutors stood to the side, along with their students, too busy in their own conversation to hear.

"You're rather –"

" 'sneaky, you know that?' " The pink-haired girl finished for her. "I did nothing, I see no reason why you should reprimand me based on actions I did not commit." The girl spoke flawlessly, each syllable punctuated with a cold, harsh monotone that showed her strength.

"…I'm not worried about you, Satori. I'm worried about Koishi, here…You knew interfering with the match was a bad choice—and yet you do it anyhow. No sin escapes me, you know."

"…I suppose it was a little foolish, aha~" The white-hair, Koishi, gave a giggle, tipping her hat. "I should have known to dip into your sub-consciousness as well, as to block the vibe. I still have much to learn about this stuff, now don't I?"

"It would appear so, Koishi. I'm ashamed, really. You're the one with the stronger abilities, you should be teaching me."

"Enough of that." The Yama closed her eyes, tapping her chin with her finger. "I don't care about how strong you both are. The fact is, Koishi, you've broken the rules. Satori, you've also inadvertently committed a sin. You knew just what your sister was thinking, yet you did not trouble yourself to stop her in the name of your pride."

Satori didn't look taken aback by any means—she already knew she was going to say that! "…" She waited for the Yama to think of the punishment—there.

"Our sentence is a week's service to those in the competition." Satori stated bluntly. Koishi looked over to her, hopping up and down with a gleam in her eyes.

"OHHHHH THIS IS SO EXCITING!" She couldn't help herself—spinning around and laughing like a schoolgirl. "I wonder who I should talk to first—That emo guy seems like a cool guy, but the boss is so adorable—and that boxer—such energy! Or Mister Dark and Mysterious!"

"…Koishi, I said a week's SERVICE, not a week's worth of dates…"

"Shhh, you're spoiling my fun!"

After the Yama had cleared up the troubles, Satori and Koishi silently followed the group back to the Aki household. Satori peeked over the bushes, Koishi following shortly behind her.

"…There are too many thoughts. It's a clutter right now. If I went in there, it would mean a headache and a limit on my powers."

"You're telling me—all the things they've forgotten, just…THERE! It's almost like a barrier of thoughts!"

"Then we wait, Koishi."

"…Yes, we wait."


End file.
